State media in UAE say Indians, Bangladeshis among 15 killed in migrant workers’ bus crash

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – State media in the United Arab Emirates say 15 Asian migrant workers have been killed in a bus crash in Dubai.

The WAM news agency said the labourers were killed Saturday when their bus rammed into a truck parked on the shoulder of a major highway that passes along the outskirts of the Mideast commercial hub. Thirteen others were reported injured.

The government-owned National newspaper reported Sunday that at least nine of the dead were from India and four were Bangladeshi.

Blue-collar South Asian migrant labourers dominate the workforce in Dubai. They primarily live in basic dormitory accommodations and travel to job sites on privately run buses.

In February 2013, at least 22 migrant workers died when a gravel-filled truck with faulty brakes rammed their bus.